SAMARITANS VOLUNTEER TELLS OF WARNING CALL
Samaritans volunteer tells of warning call
A SAMARITANS volunteer told the inquest that she was working in the Coleraine office when she received a telephoned bomb warning.
'Hillary Unknown' was granted complete anonymity and was screened during the hearing. Only the Coroner and the court clerk swearing her in to court could see the witness.
She said she was working as a volunteer with the Samaritans in Coleraine on August 15 1998.
She said that at 2.34pm she received a telephone from a male caller.
He asked: "Am I through to Omagh ? " and she informed him that he was through to Coleraine.
The caller had continued saying: "This is a bomb warning," he then stated that it was going to go off in the centre of Omagh in 30 minutes time.
When the Samaritan questioned the caller further he said "Main Street about 200 yards from the courthouse,"
"I immediately called the police on 999," Hilary told the court.
Under cross-examination, she said that the caller sounded sober and she said that he was neither very young nor very old.
The court also heard that the Samaritans did not have a caller display facility nor did they have the 1471 facility to recall the last telephone number dialled.
The coroner then asked Hillary what codeword the caller had given her. She told him it was "Marta Pope"
She said that it was the first time that she had been given a coded warning and that she had never heard the codeword before.
Hillary said that she asked the caller to repeat the code and said that she was not a hundred per cent sure that the caller's accent was from the north.
She told the court that the telephone system she was using did not have a computer facility and every incoming call had a time recorded against it using the clock.
Under cross-examination by Mr Michael Mansfield, the witness said that she had asked the caller to clarify the exact location of the bomb because she did not know Omagh.
Mr Fox asked: "In your mind the bomb was planted 200 yards from the Courthouse,?"
He then asked the witness if she could recollect whether a policeman's words were verbatim referring to the earlier statement given in Court by Constable Murphy.
To which Hilary replied "I told the policeman that it was approximately 200 yards. Yes."
The court was shown an exhibit on screen showing the piece of paper upon which Hilary had first noted the telephone call.
The words Centre Omagh, 200 yards, Court House and Marta Pope appeared on the note paper.
The Coroner again asked if that accurately related to the information that she gave the police officer.
Mr Fox suggested: "You were not told that the bomb was at the Courthouse ?,"
The witness replied that there was no confusion whatsoever: "He said it was 200 yards from the Court House,"
Through the cross-examination, Hilary also revealed that she made the call to the police immediately and she was alone in the office when she received the call.
Emergency call
Constable George Mullan, who was attached to Belfast Regional Control at Castlereagh RUC station on the day of the bomb attack said that at 2.30pm he answered an emergency call from a female caller who identified herself as Maggie from the newsroom at Ulster television.
"I can be certain of this time as all 999 calls are recorded which includes the time received," he said.
Maggie told him "I'm only after receiving a phone call from a man with a country accent saying that there was a bomb in Omagh Main Street near the Courthouse. A 500lb bomb and it is going to go off in 30 minutes,"
The constable said that he repeated the information back to the caller and then communicated with Omagh RUC Station.
Questioning the witness, Mr Fox said that Miss Hall had said that the IRA Ogli na hEireann had claimed responsibility. Mr Fox asked about part of the call which Constable Mullan was unable to determine from the tape. "Was it possible that the indecipherable information on tape referred to Ogli na hEireann," questioned Mr Fox.
Mr Richie appearing on behalf of the RUC Chief Constable informed the Coroner that all 999 calls are recorded on microtape.
The Coroner asked his staff if the tape recording could be obtained for the purposes of the court.
Martin McCann asked the witness if there was any information to suggest that a bomb attack was imminent
Constable Mullan replied "I'm sorry I am not in a position to answer that question.
Constable William Hall said he was duty officer at Omagh on the afternoon of the explosion At 14:30 hours he received a telephone call from Belfast regional control telling him of a bomb warning they had received relating to Omagh town.
Notes from his note book were shown to the coroner. They detailed UTV, Main Street, Court, 500, Marta Pope.
He told the court that the Atlas Command and Control computer System had also displayed details of a similar telephone warning.
Constable Hall then answered questions from the Coroner, Mr Leckey and from Mr Mansfield. Later he faced intense questioning from Mr Fox.
Mr Hall told the court that he had relayed the information about the bomb to the control room by telephone.
He was asked if there was anyone else available to assist with duty tasks and was further asked if there was any override situation where in an emergency calls would be dealt with.
Mr Richie stepped in to explain that the communications room was in a different building in part of the same complex.
Then the police constable was questioned about his understanding of the message which he had received.. He said he understood that the Courthouse was the main target and that 500 was the size of the bomb.
He was then asked if he could have taken it to be 500 yards from the Courthouse. "I don't recall receiving any distance from the Courthouse,"
Codeword
Asked him whether he was familiar with the code word Marta pope, Constable Hall replied "No."
Constable Hall was then asked by Mr Mansfield about the content of the message he had received in relation to the bomb warning. He also asked about the street layout in Omagh.
Constable Hall's notes had referred to Main Street and Mr Mansfield asked if Main Street came first or High Street.
Mansfield: "You would know that a 5001b bomb was going to cause devastation wouldn't you?"
Mr Mansfield put it to the police constable that he would want to clear the area.
"It wasn't my job," Constable Hall replied.
Mr Mansfield continued: "Were it your job, you would want to clear the whole of main street,"
Counsel then asked the police constable if it was clear to him that it was a serious call.
He also asked if the police officer had been given guidance on how to deal with incidences such as these.
The policeman revealed that he had been in the RUC for 26 years, but he was not aware of any knowledge of how officers on the ground should deal with incidences such as these.
Constable Hall added that normally he would "clear the area, identify the bomb and deal with it from there".
In response to further questions from Mr Mansfield, Constable Hall said that he was not aware of what resources and facilities were available to the police in Omagh.
Under the cross-examination the court heard that the police duty officer had telephoned the communications controller and then called up the Atlas Command and Control System.
Mr Fox asked Constable Hall about his understanding of the location of Main Street.
Mr Fox suggested that the content of his note would have been more elaborate, had the police constable been aware of the significance of the codeword.
The police constable responded saying that the same action would have been taken whether there was a code word or not.
Constable Hall said that he has not aware of the number of bomb warnings there had been in Omagh in the 12 months prior to August 15 1998.
Mr Fox cross-examined the witness further suggesting that he ' may have formed the impression that it was near not at the courthouse.
Constable Hall said that he understood the courthouse was the target.
Mr Leckey reminded Mr Fox that the witness was not responsible for decisions taken.
The witness statement told the court that he had recorded that the station duty inspector and duty sergeant had been informed and said he was aware the had been.
"A short time later a further entry appeared on the Atlas Command Control computer system detailing a similar telephone warning having been received by the Samaritans in Coleraine," his statement said,
"I also transcribed this message into the occurrence book, taking no action as I was aware action was already underway," he added.
A SAMARITANS volunteer told the inquest that she was working in the Coleraine office when she received a telephoned bomb warning.
'Hillary Unknown' was granted complete anonymity and was screened during the hearing. Only the Coroner and the court clerk swearing her in to court could see the witness.
She said she was working as a volunteer with the Samaritans in Coleraine on August 15 1998.
She said that at 2.34pm she received a telephone from a male caller.
He asked: "Am I through to Omagh ? " and she informed him that he was through to Coleraine.
The caller had continued saying: "This is a bomb warning," he then stated that it was going to go off in the centre of Omagh in 30 minutes time.
When the Samaritan questioned the caller further he said "Main Street about 200 yards from the courthouse,"
"I immediately called the police on 999," Hilary told the court.
Under cross-examination, she said that the caller sounded sober and she said that he was neither very young nor very old.
The court also heard that the Samaritans did not have a caller display facility nor did they have the 1471 facility to recall the last telephone number dialled.
The coroner then asked Hillary what codeword the caller had given her. She told him it was "Marta Pope"
She said that it was the first time that she had been given a coded warning and that she had never heard the codeword before.
Hillary said that she asked the caller to repeat the code and said that she was not a hundred per cent sure that the caller's accent was from the north.
She told the court that the telephone system she was using did not have a computer facility and every incoming call had a time recorded against it using the clock.
Under cross-examination by Mr Michael Mansfield, the witness said that she had asked the caller to clarify the exact location of the bomb because she did not know Omagh.
Mr Fox asked: "In your mind the bomb was planted 200 yards from the Courthouse,?"
He then asked the witness if she could recollect whether a policeman's words were verbatim referring to the earlier statement given in Court by Constable Murphy.
To which Hilary replied "I told the policeman that it was approximately 200 yards. Yes."
The court was shown an exhibit on screen showing the piece of paper upon which Hilary had first noted the telephone call.
The words Centre Omagh, 200 yards, Court House and Marta Pope appeared on the note paper.
The Coroner again asked if that accurately related to the information that she gave the police officer.
Mr Fox suggested: "You were not told that the bomb was at the Courthouse ?,"
The witness replied that there was no confusion whatsoever: "He said it was 200 yards from the Court House,"
Through the cross-examination, Hilary also revealed that she made the call to the police immediately and she was alone in the office when she received the call.
Emergency call
Constable George Mullan, who was attached to Belfast Regional Control at Castlereagh RUC station on the day of the bomb attack said that at 2.30pm he answered an emergency call from a female caller who identified herself as Maggie from the newsroom at Ulster television.
"I can be certain of this time as all 999 calls are recorded which includes the time received," he said.
Maggie told him "I'm only after receiving a phone call from a man with a country accent saying that there was a bomb in Omagh Main Street near the Courthouse. A 500lb bomb and it is going to go off in 30 minutes,"
The constable said that he repeated the information back to the caller and then communicated with Omagh RUC Station.
Questioning the witness, Mr Fox said that Miss Hall had said that the IRA Ogli na hEireann had claimed responsibility. Mr Fox asked about part of the call which Constable Mullan was unable to determine from the tape. "Was it possible that the indecipherable information on tape referred to Ogli na hEireann," questioned Mr Fox.
Mr Richie appearing on behalf of the RUC Chief Constable informed the Coroner that all 999 calls are recorded on microtape.
The Coroner asked his staff if the tape recording could be obtained for the purposes of the court.
Martin McCann asked the witness if there was any information to suggest that a bomb attack was imminent
Constable Mullan replied "I'm sorry I am not in a position to answer that question.
Constable William Hall said he was duty officer at Omagh on the afternoon of the explosion At 14:30 hours he received a telephone call from Belfast regional control telling him of a bomb warning they had received relating to Omagh town.
Notes from his note book were shown to the coroner. They detailed UTV, Main Street, Court, 500, Marta Pope.
He told the court that the Atlas Command and Control computer System had also displayed details of a similar telephone warning.
Constable Hall then answered questions from the Coroner, Mr Leckey and from Mr Mansfield. Later he faced intense questioning from Mr Fox.
Mr Hall told the court that he had relayed the information about the bomb to the control room by telephone.
He was asked if there was anyone else available to assist with duty tasks and was further asked if there was any override situation where in an emergency calls would be dealt with.
Mr Richie stepped in to explain that the communications room was in a different building in part of the same complex.
Then the police constable was questioned about his understanding of the message which he had received.. He said he understood that the Courthouse was the main target and that 500 was the size of the bomb.
He was then asked if he could have taken it to be 500 yards from the Courthouse. "I don't recall receiving any distance from the Courthouse,"
Codeword
Asked him whether he was familiar with the code word Marta pope, Constable Hall replied "No."
Constable Hall was then asked by Mr Mansfield about the content of the message he had received in relation to the bomb warning. He also asked about the street layout in Omagh.
Constable Hall's notes had referred to Main Street and Mr Mansfield asked if Main Street came first or High Street.
Mansfield: "You would know that a 5001b bomb was going to cause devastation wouldn't you?"
Mr Mansfield put it to the police constable that he would want to clear the area.
"It wasn't my job," Constable Hall replied.
Mr Mansfield continued: "Were it your job, you would want to clear the whole of main street,"
Counsel then asked the police constable if it was clear to him that it was a serious call.
He also asked if the police officer had been given guidance on how to deal with incidences such as these.
The policeman revealed that he had been in the RUC for 26 years, but he was not aware of any knowledge of how officers on the ground should deal with incidences such as these.
Constable Hall added that normally he would "clear the area, identify the bomb and deal with it from there".
In response to further questions from Mr Mansfield, Constable Hall said that he was not aware of what resources and facilities were available to the police in Omagh.
Under the cross-examination the court heard that the police duty officer had telephoned the communications controller and then called up the Atlas Command and Control System.
Mr Fox asked Constable Hall about his understanding of the location of Main Street.
Mr Fox suggested that the content of his note would have been more elaborate, had the police constable been aware of the significance of the codeword.
The police constable responded saying that the same action would have been taken whether there was a code word or not.
Constable Hall said that he has not aware of the number of bomb warnings there had been in Omagh in the 12 months prior to August 15 1998.
Mr Fox cross-examined the witness further suggesting that he ' may have formed the impression that it was near not at the courthouse.
Constable Hall said that he understood the courthouse was the target.
Mr Leckey reminded Mr Fox that the witness was not responsible for decisions taken.
The witness statement told the court that he had recorded that the station duty inspector and duty sergeant had been informed and said he was aware the had been.
"A short time later a further entry appeared on the Atlas Command Control computer system detailing a similar telephone warning having been received by the Samaritans in Coleraine," his statement said,
"I also transcribed this message into the occurrence book, taking no action as I was aware action was already underway," he added.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1531
Published Date: 14-Sep-00
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.